Gilead Sciences makes Truvada, a medicine known generically as "pre-exposure prophylaxis," or PrEP. Consistent, daily doses of the drug are thought to reduce the risk of getting HIV from sex by more than 90 percent. Paul Sakuma/AP hide caption
Health Inc. : Shots - Health News As spending on care rises, the business of health keeps getting more important. We feature news on and analysis of drugmakers, health insurers, hospitals, doctors and others in the business of providing health care.
Shots
Health News From NPRHealth Inc.
Saturday
Thursday
Marketing payments to doctors by makers of opioids have declined. Wallace Garrison/Getty Images hide caption
Tuesday
In his new job overseeing health coverage for 1.2 million workers and their families, Atul Gawande says he hopes to find specific ways to make health care more efficient and the solutions exportable. Dan Bayer/The Aspen Institute via Flickr hide caption
Wednesday
Dr. Atul Gawande has been picked to lead the high-profile joint venture in health care formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase. Mint/Hindustan Times via Getty Images hide caption
Atul Gawande: Medicine Has Become A Team Sport.
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Wednesday
Deborah Ann Favorite holds a photograph of her mother, Elaine Essa. A nursing home and Essa's primary care practice paid to settle a lawsuit brought by the family. Heidi de Marco/Kaiser Health News hide caption
Monday
CRISPR and other gene technology is exciting, but shouldn't be seen as a panacea for treating illness linked to genetic mutations, says science columnist and author Carl Zimmer. It's still early days for the clinical applications of research. Westend61/Getty Images hide caption
A Science Writer Explores The 'Perversions And Potential' Of Genetic Tests
Tuesday
Emergencies happen at all hours, but the cost of staffing an emergency department at night is higher than by day, according to emergency care providers. Edwin Remsburg/VW Pics/UIG via Getty Images hide caption
Wednesday
As the price of specialty drugs continues to rise, some health plans are shifting more of the cost to patients. Getty Images hide caption
Friday
Some personal injury law firms now automatically target online ads at anyone who enters a nearby hospital's emergency room and has a cellphone. The ads may show up on multiple devices for more than a month. sshepard/Getty Images hide caption
Digital Ambulance Chasers? Law Firms Send Ads To Patients' Phones Inside ERs
"As bad as NYU is, Aetna is equally culpable because Aetna's job was to be the checks and balances and to be my advocate," said Michael Frank, seen at his home in Port Chester, N.Y. Annie Tritt for ProPublica hide caption
Wednesday
California is starting to push hospitals throughout the state to lower their rates of medically unnecessary C-sections. Thanasis Zovoilis/Getty Images hide caption
California's Message To Hospitals: Shape Up Or Lose 'In-Network' Status
Tuesday
DNA isolated from a small sample of saliva or blood can yield information, fairly inexpensively, about a person's relative risk of developing dozens of diseases or medical conditions. GIPhotoStock/Cultura RF/Getty Images hide caption
Thursday
Monday
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar talked Friday about the administration's plans to lower drug prices as President Trump looked on in the White House Rose Garden. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption
Wednesday
Patients with private insurance like the drug coupons because they can help make specialty medicines more affordable. But health care analysts say the coupons may also discourage patients from considering appropriate lower-cost alternatives, including generic drugs. DNY59/Getty Images hide caption